For Story development, the barrier interactions give you one direction to explore, while control skills give you another practical priority. If you can reliably create a safe gr…

For Story development, the barrier interactions give you one direction to explore, while control skills give you another practical priority. If you can reliably create a safe group and land attacks, improving the benefits of those attacks has a clear purpose. If you're losing control before the first combination gets started, another offensive improvement may not be the immediate answer. A concrete Story route is to establish Atman's Barrier and Scourging Whip, then add Spirit Surge if you're regularly keeping the barrier high. Unlocking Swirling Staff adds the other half of the grouping sequence: whip, primary attacks while enemies are controlled, staff to create separation. Atman's Grace later supports a critical-hit-focused barrier build. Don't force that last interaction before the relevant node is available. For a control-first alternative, improve the whip's usefulness before prioritizing damage tied to a barrier you aren't yet preserving. His family traits also support the wider roster's evasion. That makes time spent developing Mark relevant beyond the runs where you're playing him. The campaign's family system gives you reasons to rotate instead of judging every character only by their earliest dungeon. Co-op creates opportunities for a partner to use the enemies Mark gathers. In a Trials discussion, one pair describes following his pull and stun with Joey's attack. A ranged partner can also use a clustered target area. Let the partner see the setup before you scatter the group with knockback. Two individually sensible actions can work against each other if their timing conflicts. Players disagree about how comfortable Mark is. JesterVae's Steam advice praises his grouping tools and movement, but also warns about targeting trouble with certain small or mobile enemies. Other players find his performance uneven as upgrades and enemy strength change. Those are experiences to learn from, rather than a verdict on whether you're playing the 'right' character. If he feels awkward, isolate the cause. Missing the intended target, getting hit during an ability's start, and losing protection while trading damage are separate problems. Each needs a different adjustment.